V6S is the best model

 

Agree!

Well... unless you dislike having your *** handed to you by a V8R

*ducks behind the sofa*

 

A few things.

First, there is a model year difference between UK and the US. generally, the US model year is stated as one year newer than the UK, so a 2018 in the UK would be a 2019 in the US.

Next, the V6 is simply the v8 with two cylinders blocked off. That means its the same motor mounts, transmission, etc. Now is where it gets complicated, and I'll use US model years because the OP is in the US.

For 2014, the only way you could get the V8 was in the S. This means it was pretty well loaded. You could get the S as a V6 or a V8 and it was only a convertible. You could get the v6 in lesser trim with smaller brakes and wheels and side skirts were optional. I believe there was a different differential option, too. All the cars looked the same with the exception of the exhaust. Quad tips for the V8 and center dual tips for v6. All were RWD.

In 2015, the coupe became available and it was in both v6 and v8. All were RWD and same as above for the rest. he convertible was still an S and the V8 coupes were all Rs.

In 2016, all v8s were Rs and all were AWD, regardless of coupe/convertible. Visually, there were still only minor differences between the v6 and v8. AWD cars had a slightly different hood, but you could get he v6 in either AWD or RWD.

In 2018, this is the first minor facelift and this is the first time there was more of a visual difference between the v8s and v6s. in the facelift, the headlights changed, the taillights got darker and the dual vertical vents on either side of the grill changed. For v8 cars, they became more of a horizontal oriented opening with a horizontal cross bar. For v6 cars, it was a single, smaller opening, not to be confused with the large single opening of the SVR (no need to go deeper into the SVR). You could now tell a V6 from a v8 by looking at the front or the back. Around this time, the 'S' was phased out. The R-Dynamic wasn't exactly a direct replacement of the S. It gets complicated and that's another rabbit hole.

Then came the 2021 and up model years. The v6 was phased out in favor of a detuned v8, the p450.

As far as interiors go, in the US, all of the V8 Rs were highly optioned. You could get almost all of the same options on a v6, though. From the inside, the only way to tell the difference is most Rs have the 'R' stamped into the headrest and a logo on the center of the dash. I say most, because if you got the solid color seats in anything but black the first few years, you would not get the 'R' in the headrest. For example, if you have black seats, you have the R. If you have black/red seats, you have the R/ If you have the full red, you do not have the R. Additionally, if you changed out the center trim in the dash from stock to C/F after sale, it will not have the R. This would make it difficult to tell the difference between a V6S and a V8R from the interior if it, say, had the all red interior and upgraded C/F trim. You could get a V6 with a rather basic interior and that would be a dead giveaway.

 

"Best" is rather subjective, depending on your wants and needs.

 

For me, and given the R was about $100K more than the v6S at the time, my need to eat overrode my want for quad pipes and v8 rumble.

But it was a very close thing.

 

Very nice writeup. R's also have the "R" logo on the center bottom of the wheel. I think this is consistent regardless of other interior options. So, that's a good way to know you're in an R.

 

Yep. That just slipped my mind.

 

I will second what Diablo2112 said… great write up. Thank you